Who’s the Brainiac That Decides to Employ a Dual Citizenship “American” to Work on Our Most Advanced Technology Fighter?

Hmmmm, this guy’s already made five trips over the last seven years? Swell! I wonder how much “household goods” he’s shipped back to Iran in that time? And of course one of the first things Iran would do (has already done?) with this sort of data would be to trade it to China for more air defense radars and command and control systems, and more missile systems–whether surface-to-air, surface-to-surface, and/or anti-ship cruise missiles. They would probably also try to use it to break down the Russians into finally delivering the S-300 SAMs they’ve been waiting a decade for.

NEWARK, N.J., 15 Jan. 2014. An engineer and formerly employee of three U.S. defense contractors was arrested at Newark Airport in New Jersey for allegedly attempting to ship sensitive technical materials and proprietary information on the F-35 Lightning II military fighter aircraft to Iran.

On 9 Jan. 2014, police at Newark Airport arrested Mozaffar Khazaee, described as a 59-year-old engineer, a dual citizen of the U.S. and Iran, and a former employee of three aerospace & defense contractors who also goes by the name Arash Khazaie. Khazaee was detained while attempting to fly to Tehran, Iran via Frankfurt, Germany, and is charged with the theft and interstate transportation of proprietary information valued at more than $350,000.

A special agent with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) unit in California reportedly discovered the stolen property, described as blueprints, while inspecting Khazaee’s 44-box shipment to Iran marked “Household Goods” in November 2013. The boxes bound for Hamadan, Iran, were shipped by Khazaee in Connecticut and filled with thousands of International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR)-protected and export-controlled documents related to the modern military aircraft.

The arrest warrant affidavit alleging the aerospace & defense engineer’s crimes mentions “Company A,” “Company B,” and “Company C”—reportedly three contractors with the U.S. government and Department of Defense (DOD).

A company spokesperson has confirmed that Pratt & Whitney is “Company A.” In fact, the charges against Khazaee were filed with the U.S. District Court in Connecticut, home to Pratt & Whitney’s corporate headquarters.

Matthew Bates, communications manager at Pratt & Whitney Military Engines, is quoted as saying: “Pratt & Whitney has been cooperating fully with the government on this matter and will continue to do so.”

During the 1960s, I had a close friend who had formerly been a top main frame engineer w/IBM, 1020 and 1040 series, I think. He had ten electronic engineers working under him, and a very large budget for R&D, as he saw fit. I think his IQ was at least 140, maybe higher, and I really enjoyed his very different takes on all of life.

At one point he asked me if I knew what the most valuable item would be in the years to come. I suggested gold and diamonds, to which said “Wrong. Information will the most valuable.”

On another occasion he said that at IBM one out of every four employees was also an intelligence agent, reporting to the CIA, NSA, Navy, Army, and Air Force intelligence, and so on. This underscored the concern for information loss to unfriendly nations.

Considering what a compromised design the F-35 represents, Iran will have a futile time attempting to correct its multiple defects. No one machine can adequately perform the variety of roles this aircraft is tasked to do: this can be seen on a much simpler scale in machines such as the Gravely multimode rototiller-dozer blade-snow blower, etc. From all the accounts I’ve read, Russia’s newest generation of aircraft out-perform the F-35 and cost much less. However they do not attempt to be all things to all men.

Then all the accounts you’ve read are woefully mistaken. The F-35 is a true generational leap forward, and it will be at least one decade, probably more, before Russia and China will have any aircraft operational that can equal the capabilities of the not-yet-fully-operational versions we have so far. In a few more years, when it reaches its Full Operational Capability, the F-35 will become the premier fighter in the world and stay that way (with upgrades that it is certain to receive just like *all* aircraft do over their lifespans) for decades to come.